[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Sometimes the scoreboard is too flattering
And this Clarence Gore kid, I think he's pretty good.

Smooth sailing, that's what we did today in Oranje Haven. The Snapfinger Jazz were coming to Maassluis, hoping to improve to 8-5 and make the Southeast division hold the four best win-loss records in the conference. We were just hoping to snap a two-game losing streak, an unfamiliar feeling after a stretch of 8 weeks without a loss.

Snapfinger had the ball first, but our defense played it well, with Kirk Hitchcock making a crucial pass deflection on third and short to force three and out. Reggie Thongchanh made a nice 17-yard punt return and Clay Gaynor followed it up with a 31-yard catch from Moe Sheldon's first pass for the day. Three plays later, Sheldon found his other young tight end Clarence Gore for a 25-yard touchdown. Welcome back offense for the 7-0 lead. The Jazz replied with a strong drive, but as they were about to break into our red zone, Hitchcock made a well timed interception. The offense was held short, but momentum was clearly broken. Snapfinger didn't play all that bad on their next drive, but three penalties did them in. Moe Sheldon responded with a 32-yard pass to Clarence Gore, but as that was all we gained, we punted to maintain the 7-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, the defense held the Jazz short and Reggie Thongchanh responded with a 26-yard punt return to quickly march into their half of the field. Unamused about the lack of targets, Theodore Bondy made the best of his first, making it a 28-yard gain to burst in the red zone, two plays later followed by having Moe Sheldon find George Stuckey for the 14-0 lead. The defense was supreme again, while Thongchanh added a 17-yard punt return to start yet another drive in their territory. Bondy made a third down conversion (yes, he can, he still can!), while Stuckey made a 13-yard catch to get into field goal range. Mark Giles converted the 21-yard attempt to make it a 17-0 lead. But the Jazz weren't quite there yet in terms of misfortune (or our fortune was on goinig) as Brandon Brady made in interception in our red zone and brought it back 25 yards. A penalty seemingly was going to hurt our last drive before half time, but Clarence Gore made a 13-yard catch, followed by Bondy's 14-yarder to move the chains. As time expired, Giles successfully kicked a 47-yard field goal for a 20-0 lead.

Second half, we returned it and as the kick didn't fly deep enough, Santiago Messenger got the opportunity to show his skills and moves it 58 yards to get quickly into scoring position. Clarence Gore then made a chains moving catch and followed up with a sweet 23-yarder, coming just short of his second touchdown. Due to penalty, we got no less than 5 opportunities from inside their 3-yard line and Francisco Patter converted that fifth one for a 27-0 lead. The defense then continued with a solid three and out, while Reggie Thongchanh's punt returning skills resulted in a 25-yard gain and another drive started past midfield. Clarence Gore made a 23-yard catch on third and not so easy to get into field goal range and Mark Giles eventually converted the 33-yard kick for a 30-0 lead. The Jazz had already replaced their quarterback at half time, but on their second drive they thought it was going to make a difference. It didn't and punting was their faith once again, this time saved by a touchback. Theodore Bondy made a big 18-yard catch on third and long shortly before the end of the quarter to keep the ball and the 30-0 lead.

Moe Sheldon showed a more efficient run than he did in recent games, to march into Snapfinger field on the first play of the fourth quarter. But that was just that and punting was were it ended this time around. With an on fire Jessie O'Neal at quarterback, the Jazz all of a sudden started to play better and with several chains moving passes, they reached and succeeded a 37-yard field goal. We tried to respond with a clock draining drive, but after six runs, we were forced to punt after all. With O'Neal trying to move the visitors quickly, he missed one of his tight ends and saw Kirk Hitchcock grab the ball instead, making it his second interception of the game. With the score still 30-3, we simply went into run up the middle mode, while the Jazz responded with two decente throws, but left the time outs unused o see the game come to an end.

As we outgained the Jazz by only 30 yards today, there wasn't much more the offense could have done. By starting our drives on average at our 41-yard line, we simply didn't need to gain a lot of yards to get into scoring position. In return, their five visits to our half of the field resulted in 3 interceptions, 1 scored field goal and time expiring.

Moe Sheldon received player of the game accolades with 254 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, but rookie tight end Clarence Gore was clearly his favorite target today with 7 catches for 123 yards and a score. Reggie Thongchanh's punt returning was outstanding today, while the 3 interceptions pretty much made the lack of pass rush pressure today nearly go by unnoticed. Nearly, as I certainly did see how we failed to make a single sack and had just 5 hurries on 31 pass plays.

With the Gothenburg Giants dropping 33-28 at the Tucker Tigers (they saw their first three possessions all end in interception), our division title chances moved back up. Of course, the Tigers' win also means our chances for home field advantage dropped, but with these matchups, it's always one team we hope to see stumble will have to win.

Division standings:
1. Maassluis 8-3-1
2. Gothenburg 6-6
3. Paris 6-6
4. Bordeaux 4-8

We're back into the winning ways, but we can't start thinking we're already there. We'll be facing a reborn Arizona Miners, 4-8 but on a 2-game winning streak. But as Gothenburg will be visiting the 8-4 Chicago Norsemen and Paris hosting the 6-6 Iowa Cobbers, it's technically possible we'll lock up the division in week 14.

4-8 or what not, the Miners started the season by upsetting the reigning champions, the Kansas Creationists, and two weeks ago beat the Gothenburg Giants. We can't go out there and think it's an easy victory, there's quite simply no such thing in the IHOF. We have to work hard, make plays, have our guys do their thing and that's the way to make this winning season become more than just that. This looks like it's on a mission, so keep it up guys!